Stuck Between Two
by FanficLuverHM13
Summary: When Rose leaves to follow her father's steps as a farmer, she goes to Echo Town and meets two certain interesting people. She meets Allen, the overconfident hair stylist and Neil, the grumpy animal dealer. Which will she choose?
1. Echo

"I'm not going to let my daughter live in that town of yours, much less alone!"

"Let the girl go already. Ya know she's not the 'small bulb in the garden' anymore. 'Sides, she won't be alone. Echo Town's changed since the time you brought her there for her fifth birthday. The villagers'll welcome her with open arms."

* * *

_Now that I think about it, maybe I'm not cut out to do this at all... _Rose thought as she remembered the argument her father and the mayor of Echo Town had a week ago. In the end, her father ended up finally letting her go and she had never been so happy and full of excitement.

But now that she was actually on her own, she was having mixed feelings.

_I might recognize some of the villagers from before, but what if more have moved in? What'll they think of me? _Questions came to mind as the redhead was reaching the exit of the forest and could now see the town's entrance.

Her sapphire blue eyes scanned the area. There were a couple of wild animals roaming around and minding their business, while some ran away as Rose walked past them.

"Oh!" She looked straight ahead and noticed she was just a few steps away from entering Echo Town.

"Now I just have to find Dunhill... Hopefully he's home." She told herself, getting out the map of the town.

As Rose walked, looking at the map instead of where she was going, she bumped into someone and fell back on her bottom, dropping the map onto the grass.

"Oops! S-sorry!" She apologized, looking up to see who she bumped into.

It was a young man with dark blonde hair and intimidating red eyes. He didn't seem too happy.

"Watch where you're going." He started with an annoyed tone and added, "...Idiot." He then walked away, not bothering to help Rose up or give her the map that lay in front of him.

_So much for being welcome with open arms..._

Just as she was about to reach for the map, a hand grabbed it. Thinking it was the same person from earlier, she became startled and slightly whimpered.

"I see you've become great friends with Neil." Rose heard a slight chuckle as another hand reached for hers, helping her up.

"T-thank you!" She looked up to see another young man and gave him a thankful smile.

He had lovely dark red hair and captivating dark blue eyes, along with glasses to complement them.

"Don't mention it." He returned the smile and then glanced at the map he held in his other hand.

"I take it you're new to town. Looking for someone?"

"Yeah." Rose started, dusting off her clothes. "I'm looking for Dunhill. He's going to show me around town." She explained as he handed her back the map.

"Oh, and about earlier. Neil...is that his name?"

"Yeah. I bet you've already got an impression of him. He's...pretty well-known around here." He explained with a smirk.

"Oh..."

"Seriously though, I can't believe that guy!" He crossed his arms and huffed."Not helping a woman that's fallen down, what kind of person is he?"

"Y-you saw that?" Rose asked, her eyes widening in shock.

"You caught my attention the second I saw you walk into town." He smiled.

"...Oh. I forgot to tell you, I'm—"

"Rose, right? I'm Allen, the hair stylist of town. Dunhill's been talking about you for seasons and he decides _now_ to let you live here. You have no idea how much I've waited to actually meet you. Goddess." He added the last word in annoyance.

"Well, it's nice to meet you, Allen!" She grinned."But...wow, how were you so sure I'm the person he's told you about?"

"I'm barely ever wrong. Besides, you perfectly fit his description." He reasoned.

"Wait, you're about to ask how he described you, right?" He smirked, placing his hands on his sides.

"H-how did you—"

"I have my ways. Okay, let's see...Clumsy redhead, check."

"Hey!" Rose growled.

"I'm just kidding!" Allen let out a laugh. _I can tell we're going to be great friends already._

"What else...Oh, I better not continue. I'd just end up getting you angry. Besides, we've wasted enough time introducing ourselves, why don't I bring you over to Dunhill? Things'll actually get done that way."

"Alright, then." She nodded. "Show me the way!"

* * *

Rose looked around as they walked. She noticed a few villagers having chats, along with a few girls chatting excitedly with big grins on their faces.

"Well, here we are." Allen stated when he knocked on the door of a cabin they now stood in front of.

Eager to see Dunhill, Rose smiled and gave a slight giggle.

"You seem happy." The hair stylist raised an eyebrow at her sudden action.

"I'm just really excited to see Dunhill again!" She started. "And I want to meet everyone in town, too!"

The door creaked open to reveal an old man wearing a brown jacket, along with a matching cowboy hat.

"Oh, Rose! Nice to see ya again! Felix finally decided to let you live here, huh?" He asked with a welcoming grin.

Before Rose could speak, Allen decided to ask something that's been on his mind since Rose first brought up Dunhill.

"'Again'? Do you two know each other?"

"We've known each other for _years! _Her father and I were great friends when he used to work here in town." The old man explained.

"Yep! I'm here to take over the farm my father worked on." Rose added with a nod.

"A woman like you getting dirty taking care of plants and animals? Sounds interesting..."

"There's nothin' to worry about! 'Sides, Rose here's worked here as a helping hand for Felix before, isn't that right?"

"Yeah! I got to brush Betsy and everything! I think I can get used to working as a farmer and following Father's steps." She smiled with some confidence.

She watched as Allen whispered something to Dunhill.

"Good idea. I'm busy with some villagers an' all, so I'll let you show her around." The old man whispered back.

"Well, it's official." Allen started as he looked towards Rose."I'll be your tour guide for today."

**I liked this beginning better than the beginning of the other story! What do you guys think so far? As always, reviews are highly appreciated and ideas are accepted! ^^**


	2. Meeting The Villagers

**To Zeldalover2020: I'll try my best to make this story similar to the other, along with a couple of new events, so don't worry! It makes me really glad that you were entertained with it!^^**

"What do you think of Dunhill so far?" Allen asked as they walked on the path.

"He's really nice!" Rose started. "He told me he was with my dad when I was born, so I'm guessing they were best friends or something like that."

Allen nodded. "Speaking of best friends, mine's the first resident I'm going to show you to." He stated.

"Really? That sounds great! What's he like?" Rose asked excitedly.

"You'll have to wait until you meet him." Allen started. "It wouldn't be fair to spoil everything before you even see him, now would it?" He ended with a chuckle.

The path they were walking on led to a cottage. It had a blue roof and door and there were also two flowerpots leaning against the wall.

"This house seems different from the rest." Rose started. "It's barely been painted."

Allen knocked on the door and it opened right away.

"Oh, hey Allen!"

Rose looked to see a blonde young man wearing a yellow vest and a white shirt underneath. His jeans were rolled up around his knees and on his head were black goggles laying on top of his slightly spiky hair. His eyes were a sapphire blue.

"I'm Rod! It's nice meeting ya, Rose!" He introduced himself with a grin."I almost forgot to tell you, I run the pet shop right in the plaza from Monday to Thursday and 10:00AM to 6:00PM. I also sell horses!" He explained.

* * *

It was now evening.

So far, Rose had received welcome gifts from some of the villagers of town.

Emma the shipper had given her some crops, Rebecca the architect gave her a couple of blueprints, Clement the restaurant owner gave her some recipes, and Michelle the magician showed her a few magic tricks.

"Wow, did you see those chicks coming from her hat?" Rose asked in excitement after the two had left Clement's restaurant. "They were so cute, too! I can't wait 'till I actually get one!"

"If I were you, I'd wait. For a _long_ time." Allen stated, some exaggeration in his voice.

"What, why? Don't you like chicks?"

"It's not that. I'm talking about the person who _sells_ the chicks, or just about every animal in town, too. Neil works as the animal dealer here." He explained._  
_

"Oh, he does..." She muttered with a defeated tone.

"Don't worry, though. You'll...eventually get used to him." Allen tried to assure her, but even he was doubtful.

_Now that I know her, I don't think she'll get used to Neil's personality at all..._

Rose only nodded as they walked to the last house on Allen's so-called 'tour'.

He knocked on the door and it opened to reveal Iroha, the blacksmith in town.

She had long, shiny black hair pulled up into a long ponytail and onyx eyes.

"Hello, Allen." She greeted the hair stylist and then turned towards Rose.

"Oh, who might you be? Could you be the new farmer Dunhill has talked about?"

"Yeah, that's me!" Rose started with a grin."I'm Rose. It's nice to meet you!"

"I am Iroha. It is very nice to meet you as well." She smiled back, until her eyes widened.

"Please wait here. I have to check something inside." She then rushed back into the house.

Allen and Rose waited for a moment, when Iroha came back outside.

"I made a gift for you earlier, Rose, but it isn't complete yet. I thought it would have been done by now. My apologies." She bowed in apology.

"Oh, it's alright! Don't worry about it." The farmer reassured her."I wasn't expecting any more gifts than what I got from the other villagers."

"I guess you're right." She started with a smile."It would be a burden for you to carry so many things. It would be better to give you my gift later."

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Iroha!" Rose said when it was starting to get dark out.

"See you tomorrow, Rose." Iroha waved.

* * *

As the two walked, Allen noticed Rose constantly peering over at Neil's house.

_Tell me she's not planning on introducing herself to him..._

"I could take you to Neil, that is, if it wasn't enough when you bumped into him earlier." He told her.

"Oh, that's where he lives?" She asked in surprise."I just thought the house looked really nice." She added with a smile."It's my favorite color, too!"

"You like the color red?"

"Mm-hmm!" Rose nodded.

_That's one thing we've got in common. _Allen thought with a slight smile.

"Um...Do you mind if maybe I can introduce myself to Neil?" She asked, giving him a hopeful look.

The moment Rose mentioned Neil, Allen's smile disappeared.

* * *

"Last but not least...Hold on, let me rephrase that. Last _and_ least..." Allen chuckled as he led Rose to Neil's house.

He was about to knock on Neil's door, when the door suddenly opened and Neil stood outside of his house.

Allen didn't seem to notice and knocked on Neil's forehead.

"What're you doing?!" He growled, slapping Allen's hand away.

"Hey, that's even better than what I meant to do!" Allen chuckled and Rose giggled as she covered her mouth.

Neil noticed her and scowled. "Oh, it's you." He stated coldly.

"H-hi, Neil!" She regained her composure and gave him a smile.

"Rose here wanted to say hi. Why don't you introduce yourself to her a bit more, oh I don't know, _properly_?" Allen asked, his voice slightly rising at the last word as he crossed his arms.

"If she already knows my name, we're already introduced." He growled.

He then sighed when Allen kept his pose and hadn't moved at all.

"Ugh, fine. I'm Neil, the animal dealer in town. Happy?"

"Very."

"I probably don't even have to tell you this, since the other villagers already knew, but I'm here to work as a farmer." Rose started.

"That means I'll be seeing you often." Neil summed up.

"Yep!" She nodded with a smile.

"Anyway, I'm busy." He stated after a moment. The animal dealer then closed the door and walked away.

"...Is he usually this way...?" Rose asked, curious.

"I can't say otherwise. There's no day he acts differently." Allen sighed, crossing his arms.

_Looks like he needs a friend..._ She thought with a worried expression.

* * *

Allen led Rose to the farm she was going to work on and they were now on the doorstep of her house.

"Thank you so much for showing me around town, Allen!" She gave him a thankful smile.

"My pleasure. It turns out that before you came to town, Dunhill actually bothered to let Neil show you around." He started. "The second Tina told me, I objected and told Dunhill it would be better for me to do it. Besides, Neil wouldn't be as nice to you as I'm being, now would he?" He smirked as he adjusted his hands on his sides.

"I really appreciate it, then. I should do something to thank you." Rose grinned.

"I'll think up something." Allen gave her a warm smile.

**Good news! My 3DS somehow fixed up by itself! Remember when I said that the circle pad wasn't working right and it made my character in the game move weird? I don't know exactly _what_ I was thinking while I was screwing around with the cover of the circle pad this morning, but it just goes to show that screwing with something can fix something, too! Now I can play A New Beginning again! SQUEEEEE! Also, some of you might notice that most of this chapter also has some parts of the other story! As always, reviews are highly appreciated and ideas are accepted! ^^**


	3. Winter

**This chapter takes place a few days after Rose gets used to Echo Village! Hope you enjoy! ^^**

"Are you seriously telling me to go over to Rose's farm and give her a cow and the equipment to care for farm animals for free? You must be crazy." Neil huffed.

"And why is that?" Dunhill asked.

"If I give her a free cow, she'll expect me to give her _all_ my animals for free!"

Dunhill sighed. "You out of all people should know that a farmer isn't a farmer without an animal, Neil. Besides, you wouldn't even have this job if you were expected to give your animals away for free." He explained.

"Alright, alright. I'm going." Neil groaned.

After he got the cow and the equipment, he headed to Rose's farm.

* * *

Rose was eating a turnip salad, thanks to the turnips she had harvested the other day.

She then headed outside to care for her crops, when she noticed a cow happily munching on the grass next to her house.

_Is that what I think it is?!_

"Aww!" The farmer squealed in delight as she ran towards the cow.

"Look at you!" She giggled, petting the bush of hair on its head.

"Hey! Get back here!"

Rose slightly jumped and looked around to notice Neil running into the farm area.

"G-good morning, Neil." She greeted with a shy smile. She hadn't seen him since the day she came to live in the village, so she still wasn't used to talking to him yet.

"Yeah, I had the greatest morning ever chasing this runaway cow." The animal dealer caught up to her, slightly panting.

He then watched as the cow mooed happily, rubbing up against Rose's legs.

"H-hey, watch it! You're going to make me fall!" She laughed, bending down to reach the cow's height.

"And here I thought she was going to trample you. Looks like she's taken a liking to you." Neil stated.

_He thought she was going to trample me? That's some expectation..._

"She's really cute, too! She reminds me of my father's cow, Betsy!" Rose grinned as she stood up.

"If that's what you think, then she's yours."

"W-wait, what?" She asked, surprised at Neil's sudden statement.

"You heard me. This cow is yours. You're lucky Dunhill sent me to give her to you. Don't expect me to give you any more free animals." Neil crossed his arms as he said the last sentence.

"Free? B-but—"

"Just take her! Geez, it took me long enough to chase her all the way here!" The animal dealer then sighed."Give her a name already. I'm not wasting any more of my time here."

"Hmm...I got it! I'll name you Winter, how about it?" Rose asked the cow in a cheery tone as she petted her head with a smile.

"Moo!" The cow mooed, delighted.

"Winter? We're in Spring, if you can't already tell." He slightly snickered.

"W-well, I had nothing else so I decided to name her Winter because her coat's as white as snow..." The farmer explained in a mutter."Besides, she seems to like it!"

_That's actually pretty clever..._

"If that's it then I guess I'm done here." Neil started as he was about to turn around and leave."I'll see—"

"Wait, Neil. I, uh...don't really know how to care for a cow..." Rose told him and immediately shut her eyes tightly.

"Then who's this 'Betsy' I've heard so much about?" He growled, turning back around to face her.

"S-she was my father's cow, b-but all I did was brush her when I first came here!" She reasoned.

"And to think you're the daughter of one of the best farmers in the village..." Neil groaned under his breath in irritation.

* * *

After Neil taught Rose the basics of taking care of farm animals, she thanked him.

"Thank you very much for bringing Winter here and everything, Neil!" She grinned.

"It's nothing. I should also tell you that I work in the plaza along with Rod selling animals from Monday to Thursday and 10:00AM to 6:00PM. We don't work on rainy days, if you couldn't get that into your head somehow. You should stock up so your animals don't end up getting sick by then." He explained.

"Got it!" She nodded."O-oh, and before you leave...Can you maybe check on Winter tomorrow? Just to make sure I'm caring for her right?"

Neil looked at Rose for a moment before responding. _Her eyes are so full of hope, I don't want to know what'll happen if I say no..._

"Sure."

* * *

After Neil left, Rose got straight to work with Winter. She talked to her, brushed her, fed her, milked her, and then led her out to graze.

"Happy grazing!" The farmer gave the cow a quick pat on the head and then headed out into town.

There she saw Hina, Charles and Camellia's daughter playing with Toni, Rebecca's son.

"Rosy!" The little girl exclaimed and ran towards Rose when she noticed her walking out of the farm area.

"Oh hey, Rose!" Toni ran up to the farmer as well.

"Good morning, you two!" Rose smiled when they caught up to her.

"I saw Neil walking into your farm with a cow, Rosy!" Hina started.

"Yeah, me too! What happened?" Toni asked, curious.

"Well, Dunhill told him to give me the cow. I guess a farmer isn't a farmer without any animals!" She explained.

"Ooh, can we see it sometime?" The little girl asked with a big grin.

"Yeah, I wanna see it too!" Toni smiled.

"Definitely! I'll let you two come by the farm this weekend. Just make sure you ask your parents, okay?"

"Okay!" The two kids nodded.

* * *

Rose then headed into the forest area of the mountains and noticed Iroha walking towards her with a small smile.

"Hey, Iroha!" She waved, greeting the blacksmith.

"Hello, Rose. How are you doing today?" The blacksmith asked.

"I'm good! I'm just looking for a way to use up my time for today, since I already took care of everything at the farm." Rose explained."And you?"

"I am doing well. I've managed to finish the gifts that I meant to give you when you came." Iroha told her as she looked into her bag.

She then fished out a hammer and axe from her bag and gave them to Rose.

"I know these are not your regular type of gifts, but I figured you could use some tools at your farm." She started."Take them as 'farm-warming' gifts." She ended with a smile.

_Now I can get rid of some of those old trees over at the farm! Not to mention a small tree that started to grow in front of the doorway of the_ _barn_...** This happened to me in my game, actually! Before Iroha came into town, a tree started sprouting right in front of the doorway of the barn. It ended up getting fully grown and it became hard for me to bring out my cow -_-**

"These are going to help me with my farming big time! Thank you!" Rose grinned, putting the hammer and axe into her bag.

"I'm glad to hear you enjoyed them. You can use the hammer to mine for some ores, which may also help you with your farming as well. Maybe the both of us can go mining together someday."

"Definitely!" The farmer started. "How about this Sunday? I'm letting Hina and Toni into my farm Saturday, so I might be busy that day." She explained.

"Good idea. I cannot wait until then!"

**Sorry for the week delay, but I was working on something else! I have a really big urge to write this, but I have an amazing idea for Allen in a chapter or two! Look forward to it! As always, reviews are highly appreciated and ideas are accepted! ^^  
**


	4. Overslept

**Since I've kept you waiting for a long time, I've decided to put a little something at the end of this chapter!**

_You're just going to check on Winter, tell Rose she's doing good, and leave. _Neil reminded himself as he was heading towards Rose's farm the next morning.

When he got to the farm and was about to walk towards the barn, he noticed her crop fields were dry and her mail wasn't taken yet.

_It's almost 7. Isn't she up by now? _He wondered and only shrugged. The animal dealer was just going to have to check on the cow without having to talk to the farmer. _It's what I came here to do, anyway._

When Neil opened the doors to the barn, he froze.

_She fell asleep in the barn?_

Winter was peacefully sleeping by the feeding bin while Rose slept in a sitting position with her back laying on the cow's back.

"Moo..." The farmer muttered in her sleep, slightly stirring.

"She even sleeps like a cow..." The animal dealer chuckled to himself as he walked towards the two.

The cow woke up at hearing Neil's footsteps and greeted him with a gentle moo.

"Yawn...Good morning, Winter." Rose opened her eyes and stretched out her arms, not yet noticing the blonde in the barn.

"How was your sle—Ack!" She exclaimed, finally noticing the animal dealer and scooting back with a whimper.

"You slept in the barn, you idiot." Neil told her as she stood up.

"Heh, I figured." Rose started with an embarrassed giggle, dusting off the hay from her clothes."Anyway, thank you for coming! I didn't expect you to come over so...early..." She looked up at him with a confused expression as she spoke the last sentence.

"Early? You _overslept._" Neil's voice rose and he looked back at her with an annoyed expression.

"Oh..." The farmer rubbed the back of her head, not yet getting the message.

"W-wait, I overslept?! What time is it? Oh Goddess, the crops and everything! I'm so sorry, Winter!" Rose spoke quickly, getting out the brush from her bag in a flash.

"If I have to go through this every morning..." The animal dealer then groaned to himself with a face-palm.

"What do you mean, every morning? I didn't ask you to check on Winter every day..." She asked, looking back at him as she brushed the cow.

"I've decided. I'm probably going to have to check on her every day until I can actually trust you with animals..." He crossed his arms.

_He doesn't trust me with animals? Talk about not saying anything if there's nothing good to say! _Rose inwardly groaned as she looked back towards the cow with a frown.

"That's alright, I guess. It's nice to have some _good_ company around, anyway." She retorted, a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Neil was about to open his mouth to say something, but then decided he should just stay quiet and huffed.

"S-sorry for saying that..." Rose quickly added with a slightly panicked tone.

_You better be._The animal dealer was about to say, but then changed his mind.

_Give her a break. It's only been what, a week since she came, and you're already hating her?_

When Rose finished brushing Winter, the cow gave a happy moo and nudged her leg.

She smiled and bent down to pet her head."You're a really nice cow, you know? I hope you can stay in this farm for a long time."**  
**

"Moo!"

Rose then stood up and let Neil step forward to check Winter.

"It was tough bringing Winter here yesterday." He started."She didn't want to move, so I had to push her until she noticed the farm and ran like mad into it. It must have been all the grass and space around the farm that she liked."

"Mm-hmm. When I came out of the house, she was just eating the grass like there was no tomorrow!" The farmer added with a giggle.

"Winter's doing well. There's a Cow Festival this Fall, so try to get first place in at least the Beginners' Class." He explained.

"Got it!" Rose started with a nod."Again, thank you for coming over and checking on Winter!"

"No problem." Neil started as he was about to leave the barn. "See ya later."

* * *

After Neil left, Rose decided to try to get used to the town and was now walking around, looking at the map in her hands.

"Hmm...I haven't gone to the other side of town much, so I might as we—" She was thinking out loud, until the map suddenly disappeared with a strong yank and she froze in surprise.

"Still using the map, I see." The farmer looked up to notice Allen, the map in his grasp.

Rose looked back at her hands where the map was a second ago and at Allen in confusion.

"H-how did you—?!"

"Surprised?" Allen asked her with a smirk and chuckled.

"You scared me..." She admitted with a slightly startled tone."I haven't gone to the other side of town, so I was about to go check it out." She then explained, trying to reach for the map.

"Aww, that's too bad." The hair stylist teased, pulling the piece of paper further from the farmer's reach."Looks like you're stuck at this side of town for now."

"...I could just go now and memorize where everything is...Hey, benefit of the doubt, right?" She asked with a sly smile.

Allen looked at her, raising an eyebrow."Fine, you've got me." He gave up and handed over the map.

"You know, you're something else."

"I guess I am!"

**You're probably thinking: _I waited three weeks and this is all I get?_ I know it's short, but I barely had any time to get on the computer. My school decided to fill the last two weeks with finals tests for _every_ subject! Today was the last day of the finals tests, and the last day of school for me is in _two days!_ Most people probably ended school earlier this month. Someone ended school the second day of June, I think, and I'm SO JEALOUS! Anyway, I've been waiting to write some things about Rose, like some facts or something like that, so here goes! Most of these facts are from before I registered for this website.**

**1. I actually created Rose before I even got Harvest Moon: A New Beginning. I was just reading the fogu on the game and getting all the info on it.**

**2. Rose's original name was Allana. (You'll find out why in a few seconds.)**

**3. Rose was originally created to be the female version of Allen. (Hence the name I gave her.) But being the big softie that I am, I couldn't make her as confident and cocky as he is, so I just decided to make her not related to him at all, except for the red hair and blue eyes.**

**4. Rose originally had a mini cow plush, which she named Winter. The cow plush fit in the palm of her hand, so I thought that was adorable. I might even bring the cow plush back!**

**5. In the fanfiction "Life In The School", Rose has a twin sister named Ivy. I might bring ivy into this, but there's already enough going on with Rose, but there's more ideas and stuff with Ivy! Your opinion?**

**6. Rose's appearance? This: art/Chibi-Roseline-456577088 Copy and paste that into the address, and you'll see how she looks! (That's just her as a chibi, I made her actual reference suck, but feel free to look at that as well! I've also got Ivy as a chibi here: art/Chibi-Ivette-456577104)**

**Also, I'll try my best to fix up Rose's personality a bit, but for now, all I can do is make her "A child in a woman's body." I'm not very good at making people act serious, so bear with me!**

**I hope you enjoyed reading this! As always, reviews are highly appreciated and ideas are accepted! ^^**


	5. Not So Bad

"Hey! Wait for me!"

Rose turned to see Toni running into the farm excitedly with Hina behind him the next day while she was watering her crops.

"Good morning, you two!" She smiled as the kids ran up to the fields she was currently at.

"Morning, Rose!" Toni greeted and Hina had finally caught up to him.

"Good morning, Rosy!" The little girl grinned towards the farmer and then glanced at Toni.

"I told you to wait for me, you meanie!"

"Pfft! It's your fault for being so slow!" The boy retorted, crossing his arms.

Hina only turned away from Toni and pouted.

"Come on now! What matters is that the both of you are here now, right?" Rose asked them reassuringly, bending down to reach their height.

Toni hesitated a bit before speaking.

"Yeah, you're right. Sorry, Hina." He apologized to the little girl.

"...It's okay." She nodded and then smiled when she remembered what the two came to the farm for.

"Rosy, where's the cow Neil brought here the other day? I wanna see it!"

"Winter's over there grazing. Come on!" Rose told the two as she started walking towards the front of the barn and the two kids followed.

"Moo?" The cow mooed curiously when they arrived at the area where she was grazing.

"So, this is Winter?" Hina asked in awe as she rubbed the cow's back gently."She's really cute!"

"Yeah! Can we ride her?" Toni asked eagerly.

"You don't seem too heavy, so you might be able to..." The farmer pondered for a moment, until she heard Winter moo loudly.

"Haha! This is awesome!" She looked to see Toni already sitting on the cow's back, a large grin on his face.

The cow didn't seem to mind and only continued eating peacefully.

"I wanna get on!" Hina tried to climb onto Winter's back, but couldn't manage to reach.

"Don't worry; I've got you." Rose told her as she carried the little girl up and sat her behind Toni.

"Yay! Thanks, Rosy!" She grinned.

"Don't mention it." The farmer gave her a smile and then sat down in front of the cow.

"Neil's a bit late, don't you think? Maybe he's not really going to check on you everyday, huh...It'll be fine without him coming, though! You trust me right, Winter?" She asked, petting the cow's muzzle.

The cow only mooed contentedly, its focus on eating every piece of grass in the farm.

"Oh, Rosy, I almost forgot!" Hina exclaimed, digging into the pocket of the mini version of the pilots' jacket Charles always wore.

"Here you go!" She then grinned, handing the farmer a small flower with yellow petals.

"Thank you, Hina." Rose started with a smile."It's very pretty!"

"Yeah, and it's the same color as the chick on my jacket! See?" Hina pointed to a small yellow chick that was printed onto her jacket.

"It's really cute!"

The two then started to chat, until Rose noticed Neil walking into the farm.

"Neil's come to check on Winter, you two." She told the kids, helping Hina off the cow and Toni managed to jump off, unharmed.

"Hey, Neil!" The farmer then greeted the animal dealer with a smile.

"Hey." He returned the greeting as he stood in front of her.

"Winter's all yours!"

Neil nodded and headed off to check on the cow.

Rose then led the kids over to the crop fields to give Neil some space.

"Which of these are ya gonna enter in the Crop Festival, Rose?" Toni asked her as he looked at the growing crops and flowers.

"I haven't really decided yet." She told him.

"What about the flowers?" Hina suggested.

"Oh, the Marguerites?"

"Yeah, those! They'd probably look really pretty when they finish growing! And then you could give me one, Rosy!"

"Alright, then. I'll enter a Marguerite flower and if it wins, I'll give it to you, how about it?" Rose offered with a smile.

"Okay!" The little girl nodded.

"And next time there's a Crop Festival, don't forget to give me the winning crop!" Toni added.

"If it wins, then it's a deal!"

"Yes!"

From the corner of her eye, Rose saw Neil talking to Winter with a calm tone and sometimes, he'd smile towards the cow.

_Maybe Neil's not so bad after all..._

**Not much happened, but I liked how this chapter turned out! I also finished school three days ago, so I might be able to update quicker, now that I have all the time in the world without being interrupted! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! As always, reviews are highly appreciated and ideas are accepted! ^^**


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